


Just Deal

by Sweetopia



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Rock Band, BAMF Haruno Sakura, Band Fic, F/M, Gen, Haruno Sakura-centric, Multi, POV Haruno Sakura
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-10
Updated: 2019-05-15
Packaged: 2019-10-25 22:07:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17733536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sweetopia/pseuds/Sweetopia
Summary: Sakura, a teenaged disappointment to her parents, shows up on her uncle Kakashi's doorstep after being thrown out only to bump into the most successful new rock band in the country. Could this be an opportunity of a lifetime? How did she not know her uncle was the band manager?





	1. Chapter 1

Sakura’s p.o.v:

“That’ll be ninety,” the taxi driver said as he pulled up outside an expensive looking apartment building in the centre of the city. I peered out of the window, hoping I’d remembered the address correctly.

“What?”

“Ninety. Ninety pounds,” he repeated.

“Oh, uh,” I pulled out my purse, and rooted around – knowing that I didn’t have the money. The twenty-pound note in my purse was all I had to my name. I hesitated, close my purse and tried raking through my purse instead. The taxi driver looked unimpressed by my act. I sighed and crossed my arms. “Look, I don’t have the money on me. Can’t you just charge it to my parent’s account?”

Rather reluctantly, the taxi driver called his boss to clarify that my parents did, in fact, have an account with their car service. Little did he know that I had officially been cut off. I struggled as I tried to haul my suitcase up the curb as the taxi driver pulled away, leaving me alone in the middle of a city I hadn’t been to since I was a child. I dragged my full-sized suitcase across the pavement and to the front door of the apartment building. Taking a deep breath, pressed the buzzer, holding my head high. Confidence was the only way I was going to get passed reception.

“Hello, Emerald Villa Apartments,” the receptionist answered. “Can I help you?”

“Hi, I’m here to see my Uncle, he lives in the penthouse,” I replied, trying to sound cheery. “Mr Hatake.”

There was no response from the receptionist but the door swung open allowing me inside. I avoided direct eye contact with the receptionist as I walked past, but I could tell that she was alarmed. I didn’t blame her, I didn’t exactly fit in in such suave surroundings in my scruffy jeans and combat boots. None the less, she didn’t stop me as I strolled over to the elevator, dragging my suitcase behind me. Safely inside the elevator, I pushed the button for the 44th floor and let out the breath that I had been holding. At least I knew I had the right place. I leaned back against the side of the elevator and closed my eyes glad that I was finally close to having a bed. I had spent the better part of a week couch surfing after my parents threw me out.

The elevator door opened out into a second small lobby. The square room was sparsely decorated, a few potted plants in the corners framed Kakashi’s apartment door. I left my suitcase by the wall and knocked on the door. I waited a moment, but received no answer. Frowning, I knocked again. Still no answer. I slammed my fist into the door.

“Ow, fuck,” I winced, holding my hand tenderly. I sighed, he must be out. “Now what?”

I kicked the door in frustration. The receptionist could have at least told me that he wasn’t at home. Rather than traipse all the way back down to reception, I decided to sit and wait. It wasn’t as if I had anywhere else to go. I spent a few minutes pacing the small room looking at the modern, bland, hotel style art on the walls, before I tipped my case over and used it as a seat. I rested my chin in my hands and stared at the elevator doors. While I waited, I tried to think of what to say when Kakashi came home to find me sitting on his doorstep. It had been years since I had seen my uncle. He wasn’t really even my uncle – just a good friend of my fathers. I had adored him when I was a kid and he spoiled me rotten, but something happened between him and my parents and one day we just stopped seeing him.

After almost an hour, I was beginning to get bored. My phone was dying and my butt was sore from sitting on my overfilled suitcase. I was just about to get up and try my luck elsewhere when the elevator dinged, signalling that it was coming up. A rush of excitement jolted through me. I stood up, preparing myself. The elevator door opened and a tall, blonde haired man stepped out. I dropped back down onto my suitcase in disappointment. The man gave me a confused nod and walked up to Kakashi’s door to knock.

“He’s not it,” I called out, before he could knock. “I’ve already tried.”

“Oh,” the man replied, shoving his hands in his pockets. An awkward silence hung in the air between us. I crossed my arms and fiddled with my phone, ignoring the battery warning. “I’m Naruto.”

“Hmm?” I looked up, surprised that he had spoken to me.

“My names Naruto,” he repeated, rubbing the back of his neck with a friendly grin.

“Oh, uh, I’m Sakura,” I smiled.

I watched Naruto carefully, he seemed familiar to me. I frowned trying to place his face. Naruto looked a little uncomfortable under my somewhat intense stare. He shuffled his feet and fiddled with his jacket. I still couldn’t decide where I knew him from. Then there was the question of why he was here visiting my uncle? I leaned forward a little trying to get a better look at his face. Noticing my interest, Naruto’s cheeks turned the slightest bit pink. He was just about to open his mouth when the elevator doors opened again.

“Naruto!” A second man called out, as he stepped into the lobby. His long dark hair was held away from his face with a bandanna. For a moment he seemed not to notice me sat against the back wall. “Oh, who is…?”

“Sakura,” I introduced myself. Now my interest had been piqued. This second man seemed vaguely familiar too.

“I thought you’d be here,” the second man continued. Pretending to ignore me he lowered his voice. “The others are on the way too. What are you doing out here?”

I tried not to eavesdrop, but I couldn’t help it. I bit my lip, trying not to butt into their conversation while still trying to figure out where I knew them from. They noticed my staring and lowered their voices even more as they continued their conversation.

The second man had been in the room less than five minutes when the elevator doors opened again and a third man trudged into the room, hands in pockets, an irritated frown on his face. He cast me a brief glance before walking over to his friends muttering along with them. They all looked a little agitated and I began to feel a little uncomfortable. Naruto kept casting me concerned glances, but I pretended not to notice. The elevator dinged again and I stood up, expecting Kakashi to finally have returned home. The man who stepped out of the elevator was not my uncle. I took a step back as he stepped into the room. It was certainly overcrowded with four of us in the tiny lobby, now a fifth pushed it into more uncomfortable territory.

“Who’s this?” The fourth man asked, pointing in my direction as I sat back down on my case. I rolled my eyes, this was beginning to feel like a sitcom.

“Oh uh, that’s Sakura,” Naruto gave me a small wave. I nodded back.

“And what is she doing here?” The fourth man prompted, running a hand through his dark hair. He eyed me suspiciously. I returned his stare with equal confusion – why did they all look so familiar?

Naruto and two others all exchanged glances, they clearly hadn’t thought about that. I sighed and crossed my arms, waiting for them to ask.

“Well she’s clearly not a rabid fangirl, Sasuke, she’s just been sat there this whole time,” Naruto stated, gesturing wildly in my direction. “She was here before I was.”

“Well, she could know that we…” the long-haired man paused, casting me a suspicious look. I took a deep breath, wishing they wouldn’t talk about me as if I wasn’t sat just four feet away from them. I tapped my foot impatiently on the floor. Where was Kakashi?

“Well if she’s not a fan, who is she?”

A fan? That was the second time they had mentioned it. I frowned, finally looking at them as a group when it struck me.

“Oh my god!” I gasped. “Oh my god, you guys…”

Ino was going to lose her mind when I told her I had been stuck in a room with her favourite band for the better part of an hour.

“Ha! I didn’t even recognise you!” I continued.

“Oh great,” Sasuke muttered. “What was that you were saying Naruto?”

“No, no, no! I didn’t know you were going to be here!” I objected. “What are you doing here of all places?”

“We-” The elevator dinged as the doors slid open and a tall grey-haired man stepped into the lobby. The room fell silent as he took in the sight of us all. Finally, he was here.

“Sakura? What are you doing here?” Kakashi stared at me in shock.

“Hi Uncle Kakashi,” I smiled sheepishly. He hadn’t changed one little bit.

“Uncle!?” Naruto exclaimed.

There was a long pause as Kakashi took in the sight of me. He looked as though he had seen a ghost. I stood up, nervously watching my uncle as he tried to make sense what he was seeing. Before he had time to speak, I wrapped my arms around him in a tight hug. At first he stiffened, uncomfortable with the contact, but after a second I felt a gentle pat on my back. I let out a sigh of relief. Kakashi gripped my arms, gently pulling me away and holding me in place in front of him as he looked at me. He chuckled in disbelief. I didn’t blame him, I had just shown up out of the blue for the first time in ten years. I smiled hopefully back.

“Do your parents know you’re here?” He asked. Then, on seeing the suitcase on the floor, answered his own question. “I guess not.”

I shook my head, hoping that we could discuss it later. I was very conscious of the four pairs of curious eyes watching out every move. Kakashi too seemed to finally notice the others in the room.

“Boys, what’s happened?” he asked, crossing his arms and turning to face them.

I shook my head still confused as to why the most up and coming rock band in Konoha was stood in the lobby of my uncle’s penthouse. They all began talking at once, making it impossible to make sense of anything any of them were trying to say. Kakashi listened for a second, rubbing his temples.

“Alright, shut up!” He shouted over the din. “Everyone inside. Now.”

Kakashi lead the way, unlocking the door with a key card and gesturing for us all to follow. I picked up my suitcase and dragged it behind me as we all piled into Kakashi’s apartment. I abandoned it by the front door, too busy marvelling at the luxurious surroundings to care about all of my worldly possessions. In fact, I was so busy marvelling at the spacious three bedroomed penthouse that I didn’t notice everyone staring at me intently.

“Is she alright?” Naruto half-whispered to Kakashi, startling me back to reality. I coughed awkwardly and followed them into the lounge.

Kakashi was pouring himself a drink from an expensive looking crystal decanter as we all took seats. The silence was fraught with confusion and anticipation. I shifted uncomfortably on the sofa. I was sat next to the man with the long dark hair, I was fairly certain his name was Neji – but I couldn’t be 100% sure. I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye. Was the one Ino fancied? No. It was the other one – with the spikey hair.

“Right,” Kakashi said finally, taking a sip of his drink he continued, “can someone please explain, calmly, what is going on?”

There was a pause as the boys exchanged glances. It seemed no one wanted the responsibility of telling the full story. For half a second, I wondered if I should say something, but Sasuke beat me to it. He picked up the tv remote and switched it on.

"Today’s hottest news: Lead guitarist, Karin, from 'Just Deal' has issued a statement on social media today, stating that she has left the group after what she claims to be ‘creative differences," the overly cheery TV presenter babbled.

Kakashi groaned, rubbing his forehead and muttering something about a ‘PR nightmare’ under his breath. He downed what was left of the drink in his glass and poured himself another, before motioning for Sasuke to turn the TV off again.

“What did you do?” Kakashi asked, looking directly at Sasuke.

“Nothing!” Sasuke replied, sounding unsurprised that he had immediately been accused.

“He rejected her again,” Naruto chimed in. A pillow flew across the room, striking Naruto in the head and Sasuke needled him with a glare. My eyes widened in surprise, now that was something I had never expected to hear.

“It doesn’t matter what Sasuke did,” the man next to me, Neji, sighed. “Karin’s gone. What are we going to do?”

“Break up?” the man with the spikey hair suggested, seeming bored with the situation.

“Fuck off, Shikamaru,” Sasuke rolled his eyes.

“Boys!” Kakashi scolded. “I’m way to drunk to deal with you bickering like an old married couple. Just…shut up for a few minutes and let me think!” They all fell silent and I stared at my hands feeling very much out of the loop. I still couldn’t figure out why Just Deal were sat in my uncle’s living room asking for help.

“Why don’t you just look for another guitarist?” I asked, unsure why none of them had thought of such a simple solution. They all stared at me, as if they had forgotten that I was still there. “Sorry…I just thought…”

“No, Sakura, no. You’re right, we’ll just find another guitarist, there’s bound to be someone in this fucking city who can play the guitar!” Kakashi threw his hands up. I couldn’t quite tell if he was being sarcastic or not. “We can host open auditions! I’ll put a statement out tomorrow. It’ll all have blow over by next week! Who really liked Karin anyway?”

I grimaced, I had sort of liked her. It was nice to have some female representation in a male-dominated genre. Kakashi was still babbling on, formulating a plan. He pulled out his phone, quickly typing emails and barking demands down the phone to who I only assumed was his assistant. I was finally starting to put two and two together. My uncle was the manager of one of the most successful new bands in the country!


	2. Chapter 2

“Sakura, call your mother,” Kakashi yelled as he entered the room, holding his mobile to his ear.

I had been living at my uncle’s house for the last few days and it seemed that my parents had checked their bill for the car service. I shook my head violently as Kakashi held the phone out to me. The last thing I wanted was to speak to my mother.

“Oh uh sorry, she’s not here right now-” Kakashi hung up the phone before my mother could respond. He gave me a disapproving look as his phone immediately began ringing again. “Sakura, you’re going to have to speak to them sometime.”

“Not today,” I pleaded.

“What the hell happened?”

I rolled my eyes, “Nothing.”

“You don’t run away from home for nothing,” Kakashi sighed, muting his phone and collapsing on the couch beside me. We sat in the silence of his penthouse living room, starring out of the glass wall which overlooked midtown Konoha.

My Uncle had been incredibly patient with me up until now. When I had shown up on his doorstep it had been ten years since he had last seen me and yet he still took me in. I had been put up in the spare bedroom, which Kakashi now affectionately referred to as ‘the homeless shelter’. I hadn’t dared to unpack my suitcase though, not knowing how quickly he would tire of having a teenaged house guest.

Kakashi sighed, checking his watch.

“I have to go,” he groaned as he stood up, a hint that he wasn’t quite as young as he used to be – despite his appearance.

I nodded and shifted awkwardly in my seat. Neither of us were used to the situation, but Kakashi really had no clue what to do with the responsibility. The man was clearly meant to be a lifelong bachelor, I doubted he would ever have children of his own and I was probably not the best substitute.

“Uh, be good?”

“Where are you going?” I asked, curious as to where he disappeared to so often.

“Oh uh, there’s a meeting with the band's publicist that I have to get to,” he said slowly, I could tell that he was making it up as he went along. I crossed my arms and raised an eyebrow.

“It’s almost eight thirty, pretty late meeting.”

Kakashi scratched the back of his head, grimacing. He had been caught out. We both knew where he was really going.

“It’s fine that you have a date,” I shrugged. “I’m the one who’s disrupting your life. Don’t worry about it. I’ll be fine.”

Unintentionally, I seemed to have made my bachelor Uncle feel incredibly guilty. He looked at his watch with a pained expression before picking up his phone, which I assumed was to cancel his date. I was about to protest when he pulled the phone away from his ear and said, “I’ll call the boys to keep you company.”

The boys he was referring to were the remaining members of Just Deal. I had met them, if briefly and under stressful circumstances, the night I had shown up at Kakashi’s door. In truth, I didn’t really want to be babysat by a bunch of annoying guys.

“No!” I yelped. “No, it’s fine. I’ll be fine. I’ll order a pizza and relax. You have a good date, I won’t wait up.”

Kakashi sighed deeply, but turned and left none the less.

I waited in silence until I heard the faint ding of the elevator before I crept from the lounge and into my Uncle’s bedroom. With only a moment of hesitation, I climbed up onto his bed and took the Fender Stratocaster off of its wall mount above the bed. I had been itching to get my hands on it since I had caught a glimpse the night I moved it.

Carefully, I climbed off of my uncles’ bed, cradling the guitar in my hands. It was old. I remembered Kakashi playing it for me when I was small and it featured in pictures mounted on the walls which were taken almost thirty years ago. Kakashi had long since retired his old strat and it had been relegated to a decorative wall hanging. In my opinion, it was shameful to relegate such a quality instrument to furnishing.

Bringing the guitar through to the lounge, I dug behind the couch for an amp cord and flicked on the rig switch. Experimentally, I picked a string. It buzzed against the fret and it was out of tune. I had expected that it was probably a while since it had been turned up. Still, it would take valuable practising time away from me. I knew that I would have to get the strat back on the wall before Kakashi got home.

Ten minutes of tuning, by ear, later I was finally ready to play. It had been a while, and my fingers were clumsy on the frets. I sighed, frustrated, and began again. Working some scales, to warm up I closed my eyes and felt my way along the guitar. After a while, my fingers began to relax and I no longer sounded as though it was the first time I had ever touched a guitar. I was amazed by how quickly I had slipped back into it. Feeling more confident I eased my way through a solo piece – a relatively easy one.

I continued to play until the pads of my fingers began to feel sore. It had been such a long time since I had played that the callouses on my fingers had softened and the rough metal strings were cutting into my skin. Just as I was about to finish up, I heard a knock on the door. At first, I wasn’t sure I had heard it – I stopped playing to listen and heard nothing – but as soon as I started playing again there was another knock on the door.

Worried I had pissed off Kakashi’s downstairs neighbours, I gently propped the strat up against the sofa cushions and made my way to the front door. Preparing myself to be apologetic, I opened the door, a bright but fake smile on my face.

“Hi, I’m so sorry about. Oh, it’s you.”

“Hey Sakura,” Naruto greeted, a goofy grin on his face. Behind him stood the rest of the guys.

“What do you want?” I asked, trying to keep my tone even. I closed the door a little, not wanting them to see that I had taken Kakashi’s prized possession off of the wall.

“We heard music,” he began, trying to peek around the door. “What you doing?”

I paused, giving them an unimpressed look. I knew why they were really here. Kakashi had caved and called them to come and check on me. I couldn’t help but wonder if it was because he didn’t trust me to be home alone – maybe he had been speaking to my parents more than he was letting on. Why else would the boys be here?

“Nothing. What’s up, Naruto? Kakashi isn’t here.” 

“Hn, we know. Kakashi sent us to baby sit you,” Sasuke said impatiently, crossing his arms over his chest.

I knew it. Kakashi really didn’t trust me. Not that he had been wrong. I had waited until he had left and taken his prized guitar off of the wall and played it for the best part of an hour with out his permission.

I scowled, debating whether or not to slam the door in their faces. Deciding not to prove my uncle, and my parents right, I sighed and opened the door for them to come in. They all filed passed me and into Kakashi’s apartment. Neji gave me a small, apologetic smile and I closed the doors behind me.

“Hey is that…” Shikamaru frowned, pointing at the guitar propped up carefully on the couch cushions.

I was about to protest when they all swarmed around the guitar in awe.

“It is! It’s a Fender strat!” Neji exclaimed, picking it up and giving it an experimental brush with his fingers. “And it’s a vintage. This is amazing, where did you find this?”

They all turned to me expectantly.

“Uh…It’s Kakashi’s,” I offered, not wanting to admit that I had been playing it without my Uncles permission.

“Woah, who know that the old guy could play, huh?” Naruto laughed.

It was surprising to me that they had never snooped around the apartment before. I perched myself on the arm of the couch and hoped that the relic of a guitar would be enough to distract them. They all marvelled at the instrument.

“Alright, I’m going to go to my room now,” I tried to excuse myself, hoping that the boys would get the blame for the strat being left in the living room. Sitting alone in my room was better than having to socialise with four strangers.

“Hn, wait a minute,” Sasuke frowned. “We heard someone playing this when we were outside…”

“Yeah, we did!” Naruto chimed in, pointing accusatorially at me. “And now she’s sneaking off to her bedroom…”

There was a collective pause.

“OH! SAKURA HAS A BOY HERE!” Naruto yelled, jumping out of his seat.

I sighed deeply and crossed my arms, amazed that he could jump to such a stupid conclusion. Sasuke seemed equally as exasperated with his bandmate. He slapped the blond boy oh the head and shot him a sharp look.

“Sakura doesn’t have a boy here?” Naruto said defeatedly.

“No, she doesn’t,” I huffed.

“Of course she doesn’t, idiot. She was the one who was playing,” Sasuke pointed at me.

I frowned. What the hell did he mean by ‘of course she doesn’t’?

“What the fuck do you mean by that?” I snapped.

“Hn, I-”

“Wait, so you were the one playing?” Neji asked, preventing what would probably have been an aggressive argument.

I shrugged, “yeah, so?”

I was being stared at like I had grown an extra head. I stared back at them equally confused.

“Okay, you guys are being really weird,” I said finally breaking the silence before it could stretch on any longer. “I’m gonna go and put the guitar back in Kakashi’s room and then I’m going to go to bed.”

I held my hand out for Neji to pass me the guitar. He handed it over, a little reluctantly. Shaking my head at their strange behaviour I held the guitar carefully and turned to put it back in Kakashi’s room.

“Wait! Play something for us,” Shikamaru prompted, settling himself in a near by arm chair. He looked exhausted, but his attention was fully tuned to me. I don’t think I had seen him so alert. Even on stage, that boy seemed to be two minutes away from passing out.

I scoffed and shook my head. I wasn’t the playing in front of people type, especially not professional musicians.

“C’mon Sakura, you sounded really good through the door,” Naruto said encouragingly.

I shifted awkwardly, not convinced that it was a good idea. Their insistent staring was becoming creepy, as they all waited expectantly for me play something.

“Ugh, fine,” I gave in all too easily. “Pass me that cable.”

I plugged the strat back in to the amp and perched myself back on the arm of the couch. My palms felt unexpectedly sweaty, I couldn’t believe how nervous I felt.  I wiped my hand on my jeans and tried to get comfy. Ignoring the boys persistent staring I took a deep breath and played something that they would recognise. One of their songs.

It started off shaky, my fingers were sore and I could feel the intensity of the guy’s gaze but the more I played, the more relaxed I became. Focusing on the music, not the throbbing of my fingertips, I tightened up the sound. I dared not glance up, not wanting to miss a note and make a fool of myself.

I finished with a little bit of flare, showing off just a tiny bit, and unplugged immediately. I stood up, avoiding direct eye contact with any of the four guys and all but ran into Kakashi’s room. I closed the door behind me, and leaned against it. That was the single most nerve-wracking thing that I had ever had to do. After a few moments calming myself, I placed the guitar carefully back in place on the wall mount and straightened the covers on Kakashi’s bed so it wouldn’t look like I had been in there at all. Happy that the room looked just as it had before I took the guitar down, I walked back into the living room to find the boys in a deep discussion.

“…No way, it’s not happening,” Sasuke protested in a half whisper.

“Oh c’mon, Sasuke, it would solve our problem,” Neji reasoned, glancing up in my direction. Noticing me lurking in the doorway of the bedroom he coughed awkwardly, signalling for them to stop their discussion.

“Oh, please, don’t let me interrupt,” I held up my hands and excused myself. I walked through to the kitchen, trying my best to ignored the heated whispering. As I pulled a beer out of the fridge, I wondered what they could be arguing about. I opened the bottle on Kakashi’s marble countertop with a quick slam of my hand. The sound of the bottle top clattering again the tiles brought the conversation in the living room to a standstill. I peered over the dining table to see what was going on.

Sasuke was still shaking his head, but the others seemed to have come to an agreement. They all sat back in their seats. Neji coughed awkwardly again and motioned for me to come back into the room.

“Sakura, could you come here a minute,” he called, ignoring Sasuke’s death glare.

“Don’t do it Neji, I swear to god,” Sasuke warned.

“What’s up?” I asked trying not to sound to suspicious. They were all acting very strangely.

Nervously, I picked at the label of my beer and leaned over the back of the second couch where Naruto was sat, his leg bouncing frantically.

“Sakura, we were just talking,” Neji began calmly.

“WE WANT YOU TO JOIN THE BAND!” Naruto blurted suddenly. So suddenly and so loudly that I almost dropped my beer.

There was an expectant silence while I let the words sink in.

“Me?”

“Well, yeah,” Shikamaru shrugged.

I was about to decline when Sasuke beat me to it, “No way. No.”

I glared at him fiercely. I knew why _I_ didn’t want to be part of their shitty band, but why was _he_ protesting so much?

“ _She_ is not being in my band,” Sasuke demanded. The fact that he was so adamant sparked defiance in me and I began to change my mind. Before I could open my mouth to argue, Sasuke was speaking again. “No more girls. We’re having a guy this time and we’re going to hold auditions like a normal band.”

I rolled my eyes.

“Whatever, why would I want to be in your stupid band anyway,” I muttered, just loud enough for them all to hear.

“Please, Sakura, don’t listen to him,” Naruto begged, clasping his hands together dramatically. “You’re perfect.”

“No,” I repeated, incredulous. I couldn’t believe that they had even asked me. “You guys literally just met me. You’ve only heard me play one song! And Sasuke doesn’t even want me in the band. Look, guys, I’m flattered, but I just think it’s a bit…weird.”

“We get it,” Neji sighed, rubbing his temples.

“We’re having an open call audition tomorrow. Come and audition then,” Shikamaru suggested hopefully. “A proper audition.

“I think you’re missing the point,” I sighed, taking a sip of beer. “I’m not interested in joining your band. I’m sorry guys, but you’ll just have to find someone else.”

Sasuke sat back in his chair looking conflicted. I glanced over at him, confused.

“You don’t _want_ to be in the band…” he repeated. He sounded surprised. I didn’t blame him. It wasn’t everyday that you got invited to join a successful group, nor was it everyday that you declined such an offer, but I wasn’t cut out to be a performer. I wasn’t really cut out to do anything – that was the cause of all my problems.

I shrugged, classing the discussion as finished, and climbed over the sofa, to sit down next to Naruto. Reaching for the remote on the coffee table I turned on the stereo and pulled out my phone. If they were going to insist on sitting with me all night, I was going to act like they weren’t there.

The boys shared stunned glances as I kicked my feet up on the coffee table and scrolled through Instagram, ignoring their presence to the best of my ability. Internally I was pretty much as freaked out as you would expect, but I would be damned if I was going to show it.  The only thing I could think to do was to text my best friend.

When I say best friend, Ino and I hadn’t spoken in about three weeks. Falling out with her was just one of the many reasons that I had left home. I was eighty percent sure that she wouldn’t respond to my texts and the other twenty percent was banking on it being a barrage of insults.

_Ino-pig I know you told me not to talk to you anymore, but I have something big to tell you. B. I .G_

I hit send on the text and resumed scrolling through Instagram. As predicted, she didn’t respond. After about five minutes of awkward silence, which was only made slightly less awkward by the stereo blaring in the background, I had given up hope. Feigning a yawn I glanced at the clock – it wasn’t even ten pm.

I groaned. I was going to be stuck here for hours. Why had Kakashi thought that forcing me to spend time with strangers would be any form of entertainment? I imagined it was because of our proximity in age that had made Kakashi think I would appreciate Just Deal’s company, but that was a tenuous link at best.

“Did Uncle Kakashi say when he would be home?”

My question seemed to startle the boys out of their stupor.

“Uh, no,” Shikamaru replied uncertainly.

“Great,” I said sarcastically. “I guess we’ll just sit here until he comes home.”

The first thing to run through my mind was to call Kakashi with some kind of emergency, but I figured that it would be better not to piss off the only person in my life willing to put a roof over my head.

As it turned out, I wouldn’t have to wait long before Kakashi returned home. He stumbled through the door only half an hour of awkward silence later.

“Oh, hey boys!” Kakashi said tiredly. “Sakura!”

“You okay there?” I asked, holding back laughter as my uncle collapsed into his armchair.  It was abundantly clear that he had been drinking and the red hand print on his right cheek made it obvious that his date hadn’t gone quite to plan.

Kakashi’s arrival had broken the tension in the room.

“Oh yeah, I’m good, I’m good,” Kakashi waved his hand in front of his face.

“Your date went well then?” I enquire, shooting a cheeky look to Naruto, who looked like he could barely contain himself. I too, was struggling to hold back the barrage of taunts about his unsuccessful dating history.

Kakashi regaled us with the story of his date, inappropriate groping and being slapped in the face included. It really was no wonder that he was still single.

“So anyway, what did you guys get up to?” He asked taking the beer out of my hand and chugging it. “I’m gonna pretend that I didn’t see you drinking, in case your parents ask.

“Ugh, they’re not gonna ask,” I rolled my eyes. “Besides I’m eighteen, I’m legally allowed to drink!”

“You’re eighteen!?” Naruto yelped, pushing himself away from me as though I had some sort of disease. “Woah, that’s young.”

“What no it’s not! You guys are eighteen,” I rolled my eyes. They had been acting weird all night so it was no surprise it was continuing.

“What? No, we’re not,” Neji laughed.

I frowned, looking around the room. Had I missed something?

“What?”

“Sakura, we’re all in our twenties,” Shikamaru explained, amused at my shocked expression.

“WHAT!?”

“Oh, yeah, no. We thought you knew that?” Neji chuckled.

“Nope, I thought you were all…” I shook my head.

I don’t know why it seemed like such a big revelation to me, but it seemed kind of weird. I shook my head again, moving past it. I turned my attention back to Kakashi.

“Nothing,” I got us back on track. “We did nothing, tonight.”

“Actually,” Naruto corrected. “We invited Sakura to join the band.”

* * *

**Sweetopia: Hey guys I know I didn't update when I said I would...But I PROMISE I'm going to do better from now on! I'm even going to draw up a proper schedule to write the new chapters.**

**Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter. Let me know what you think in the comments!**


	3. Chapter 3

“I can’t believe you’re making me come with you,” I grumbled from the passenger seat of Kakashi’s car. Tired and irritable, I pulled at a loose thread of my jeans. 

“Well, apparently, you can’t be trusted alone in the apartment, so...” Kakashi retorted, focusing on the road as we drifted through the stop and start Konoha traffic.

I crossed my arms and stared angrily out of the window. To say Kakashi had been angry when he had found out that I had been playing his favourite and most expensive guitar was an understatement. At first, he had been lost for words unable to string together a coherent sentence. Of course, that could have also been because he was drunk. Then he shouted. I had never heard my uncle shout before and I didn’t really care for it.

“I said I was sorry.”

“Sakura,” Kakashi warned. I sighed deeply but left it alone. In all honesty, I was relieved that he hadn’t thrown me back out onto the street and I didn’t want to push my luck any further.

We were on our way to the open call auditions for Just Deal’s new guitarist – a position which I had turned down less than twelve hours ago. I had protested at attending at first, but Kakashi had made it pretty clear that I didn’t have a choice. 

We pulled into the parking lot around the back of the venue. Kakashi parked the car in one of the few spaces left. It looked like it was going to be a pretty busy day. I groaned at the sight of the packed parking lot, knowing the miserable day I was going to have sitting in a cramped, sweaty music hall with a bunch of fame hungry idiots.

“Ugh, do I really have to be here,” I complained as I climbed out of the car, slamming the door behind me. It earned me a sharp glare from my uncle. 

“I have to be here, so you have to be here,” Kakashi countered locking the car and walking toward the main entrance. “And I have a monumental hangover.”

I rolled my eyes and followed him into the building. The lobby was filled with wannabe band members, so many that I was sure we weren’t gonna get through them all in one day. My disappointment only grew as the auditorium was also filled, almost to capacity. Only the first two rows of seats were empty, save for the four guys sat front and centre.

“Hey boys,” Kakashi greeted, sliding into the seat closest to Naruto. “Not started yet?”

“We were waiting for you, old man,” Shikamaru berated, stifling a yawn. I clenched my teeth as the urge to yawn took over me. 

“Yeah, sorry about that,” Kakashi shrugged, pointing to me, “had to drag that one out of the house.”

“Ugh, whatever,” I muttered under my breath.

Rather than sitting in the space beside my uncle, or even the space on the other side by Sasuke, I climbed over the seats and into the empty second row. In truth, I still felt a little embarrassed that they had seen me get told off the night before but I wasn't about to let them know. 

“Hey, Sakura!” Naruto turned around in his seat to greet me.

I glared at him and offered no response.

“What’s with her?” he asked Kakashi, giving me a sideways glance as he did. 

“She, like, really doesn’t want to be here right now,” Kakashi said in a mocking version of my voice. He looked back at me, clearly hoping for a reaction. A reaction I was not going to give him. He sighed. “She’s mad at me. And you, actually. Just ignore her, boys. We’ve got work to do.”

I hunched myself down in the seat, pulled my hood up and kicked my shoes off. If I was gonna be here for the long haul I was at least going to be comfortable. Pulling out my phone, I tried to find something to entertain myself for a few hours.

There was only a ten-minute wait after we arrived before a woman with a clipboard walked up and whispered something in Kakashi’s ear. With that, the first auditionee walked out on the stage. I glance up briefly from my phone and had to do a double take. The man on stage looked eerily similar to Sasuke. It seemed the others had noticed too.

“Alright…” Kakashi looked down at the piece of paper in front of him, “…Sai, congratulations you’re the first person to audition for the new position. Let’s see what you’ve got.”

Never had anyone regretted saying anything more. It was so shockingly bad that I had to cover my ears. How anyone that bad would have the confidence to play in front of professional was beyond me.

Neji slammed his fist into the table in front of them, bringing the wailing guitar to a merciful end.

“Thank you for coming, Sai,” Kakashi said tactfully. “We’ll…uh…we’ll get back to you.”

As it turned out, that sucky start to the day was only the beginning. The next three auditions were so awful that I swore I would never, ever forgive Kakashi for dragging me out of bed to witness. It seemed none of the guys were thrilled at the prospect of a full day of this.

I groaned as a fourth man walked onto the stage guitar in hand, and introduced himself. Thankfully, this one was better than the others, though that really wasn’t saying much, and I was able to focus on playing candy crush on my phone instead.

By the time we broke for lunch, I found myself wishing that I had brought earplugs. What had they been thinking, holding open call auditions? Just about any weird guy in Konoha who had a guitar had shown up and, as a general rule, they all sucked.

“I can’t believe you made me come here!” I complained at my Uncle as we waited for one of the assistants to come back with our lunch order. I had been hoping to sneak out during lunch, but Kakashi had quickly put an end to that idea. I watched enviously as Naruto and Sasuke stood by the fire exit, cigarettes in hand.

“I hope it’s taught you a lesson, young lady,” he attempted to be stern, but it just didn’t suit him. We both struggled to keep a straight face.

“How’s your hangover?” I asked, sure that he was feeling ten times worse than me.

“Oh, just fantastic. Nothing cures a hangover like hours of tuneless wailing,” he groaned, slumping down in his chair and rubbing his face with his hands.

As if on cue, the unfortunate intern on lunch duty returned, arms full of food. Kakashi gratefully took his large black coffee and tray of cheesy nachos. I pulled a face at the weird combination but left him to it. At least he was in a slightly better mood with me. Perhaps the awful music had put his problems with me into perspective.

We ate lunch in grim silence. Neji, Naruto and Sasuke shared hostile looks, probably trying to decide who to blame for the open audition idea, while Shikamaru dozed in his chair. I tried my best to keep quiet and out of the way.

After ten minutes of tension, I decided I needed to stretch my legs. Standing up, I slipped my shoes back on my feet and made my way down the row of seats towards the lobby.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Kakashi called once I had managed to get further than four seats away. I cursed under my breath, I had hoped to slip away unnoticed.

“Uh…bathroom?”

“Hm, okay,” Kakashi narrowed his eyes. “You have five minutes. Then I’m sending someone to find you. Hurry back.”

“Yeah, okay,” I replied, trying to hide my exasperation. Kakashi was turning out to be stricter than my own parents.

Once safely out of sight of Kakashi, I ducked out of a side door and found myself back in the parking lot. I pulled the pack of cigarettes and the lighter I kept hidden in the inside of my jacket and lit one. Bringing it to my lips, I was just about to take a drag when I heard a reproachful cough behind me. I winced, already knowing who it was before I turned around.

“Sakura, you’re smoking now?” Kakashi said disapprovingly as I turned around to face him. He was leaning on the wall, arms crossed, watching me.

I smiled sheepishly and dropped the cigarette to the floor, standing on it to put it out. There was nothing I could say to defend myself, so I remained silent.

“What has gotten into you? First, you run away from home, then you take my strat out of retirement and now this!”

“I’m sorry, I just-”

“What happened to that sweet little girl I used to know?”

“I grew up, uncle Kakashi,” I sighed. I had heard every single variation of this lecture from my parents, it wasn’t going to make a blind bit of difference coming from him. “I’m sorry. Let’s just go back inside.”

“Not until you tell me what happened,” he shook his head.

I sighed, crossing my arms stubbornly – mirroring him. Unimpressed with my silence Kakashi pressed further, “I can always call your parents and ask them why you ran away.”

“I didn’t run away, okay?” I snapped, I was sick of hearing that. “They kicked me out.”

“Ah,” he nodded as if that was some crucial piece of the puzzle. I was sure it certainly explained a lot, but I was being purposely vague about any details. I waited for him to say something else, but he remained quiet.

“Look, I really don’t wanna talk about it,” I said simply. It was true, I didn’t want to talk about it to anyone, ever. “Not even to you, so can we just leave it?”

“Alright, come on,” He agreed, gesturing for me to follow him back inside. “The boys want to talk to you before we start up again.”

I followed him inside, relieved by how well he was handling things. I had expected a lot more of a fight. The first time my mother had caught me smoking all hell had broken loose.

I tried to keep the guilty expression off of my face as we walked back into the auditorium. The guys were waiting expectantly for my return. I eyed them suspiciously as we approached, they all looked far too happy to see me.

“Hey, guys…” I said hesitantly, my gaze flickering between them. “What’s up?”

“Please join the band!” Naruto begged, clasping his hands together.

Not this again. I rolled my eyes.

“I already told you, I’m not interested.”

“Please Sakura,” he whined. “I can’t do this. I can’t sit through any more.”

“He’s right, Sakura, you’re a million times better than any of these idiots,” Neji appealed. His eyes looked haunted as he reflected on the travesty of auditions which we had endured so far.

Shikamaru nodded in agreement.

 Once again, it was Sasuke who was holding out. He remained stoic. I watched him expectantly, waiting for him to insult me or adamantly disagree with his bandmates.

“Hn, they’re right,” he said begrudgingly. I was shocked, but it wasn’t going to change my mind.

“No,” I repeated. “I don’t want to join your band. You’re just going to have to sit here until you find someone better.”

What I failed to realise was that _I_ had to sit there until they found someone better. A fact which became abundantly clear to me over the next few hours of heinous guitar solos. I groaned in pain with each new person to walk on that stage. By the time the day had drawn to a close, I didn’t think that I would ever hear good music again.

I let out a sigh of relief as Kakashi called it a wrap.

“We’ll start again tomorrow,” he said in despair as he looked at the long list of waiting auditionees.

“Tomorrow? Aw, crap,” I sighed, the realisation that I would have to endure another day of torture.

We left with my head still ringing.

* * *

 

When we returned the next day, I came prepared.

The feeling of arriving at the venue knowing that I had a pair of noise-cancelling headphones was honestly better than anything I had experienced up to that point in my life. I strolled into the auditorium, head high, eyes bright and a smile on my face. I greeted the guys with a smug grin as I settled myself in my seat. 

"Hey, Sakura?" Neji asked, suspicious of my good mood. "What are you so happy about?" 

I shrugged and pulled my noise cancelling headphones dramatically out of my bag and placed them onto my head. I enjoyed the look of outrage on the boy's faces and watched as an argument broke out, while I was unable to hear. 

The headphone trick worked. It made the day marginally more tolerable and so I brought it to the next day of auditions and the one after that. But by the time Friday rolled around, I was beginning to tire of the long days cooped up in a sweaty auditorium. I had thought that they would have found someone to join them after five days of auditions, but it seemed there was a quantity over quality issue going on. 

We arrived late on Friday morning. I had had a hard time finding the motivation to get out of bed. Despite almost a week passing since the guitar incident, Kakashi still didn't trust me enough to let me stay home alone. I was groggy and unresponsive as Kakashi opened the car door for me to get out. Wearily, I followed him across the carpark and into the venue.

Kakashi was equally as irritable, his usually relaxed mood had dissipated around day three of auditions. We threw ourselves onto the seats of the auditorium. The boys gave us a disapproving look but said nothing. We waited in silence for the first audition of the day to be announced. And we waited. After about ten minutes I sat up in my seat. 

"Uh, guys?" I leaned forward to talk to the men in the row in front. "Is there anyone actually here to audition today?" 

"Don't be stupid, of course..." Sasuke snapped, before trailing off. He paused and frowned. 

I turned around in my seat and scanned the empty auditorium, looking for anyone who could be sat in the seats. I saw no one. 

"Oh thank god!" Kakashi exclaimed, throwing his hands into the air. "I couldn't take another day of this. I was so close to quitting." 

"Don't celebrate just yet," Shikamaru reasoned. "We still don't have a guitarist. Everyone we have seen this week had been absolute trash." 

The group fell silent, our excitement dampened. It was true, the band was still missing a member. 

"Well, there is one option," Neji suggested, turning in his seat to stare at me.

I crossed my arms, I knew exactly where he was going. They had begged me at the end of every day of auditions and each time I had rejected them. 

"No," I said before he could finish asking me. "For the millionth time, no." 

"Pleaseeeeeeee," Naruto pleaded. "What do we have to do to get you to say yes?" 

"Nothing," I shook my head. "I wouldn't be any good, you guys don't want me in your band." 

"Yes we do, Sakura, don't put yourself down like that," Neji scolded. 

This conversation continued for some time until I was about ready to get up and walk away. 

"Okay, guys, just leave her. She's not good enough," Kakashi interrupted, shrugging his shoulder. "You don't want someone that bad in your band. We'll just have to keep looking. I'll email some contacts and see if there are any actual musicians who-"

"Hey!" I protested being openly insulted by my own uncle. 

"Well, you said it yourself, Sakura. You're just not cut out for success."

It stung to hear him talk to me that way. I felt myself getting angry, but I tried my hardest to contain myself. He continued to belittle me in front of the others while they watched, all growing more and more concerned. I watched them look awkwardly at each other, each wondering what on earth had gotten into Kakashi.

With each word, I was growing more and more upset. The long days and nights of little sleep, not to mention constantly avoiding my parents' calls had made me more than a little short tempered. It was a miracle that I was able to hold myself together as long as I did. 

"Hey, you can't talk to me like that! I am more than good enough to be in your shitty little band, you don't even know how good I am. You'd be lucky to have me in it! Why are you being such a jerk? Y'know what, I will join just to prove you wrong you smug old bastard," I snapped, jumping to my feet. I was just about ready to make a dramatic entrance when I saw the smile on Kakashi's face. 

"So, that's settled then. Sakura you're joining Just Deal," Kakashi clapped his hands together. "Congratulations!"


	4. Chapter 4

“Hey, Kakashi?" I asked as we were driven through the busy streets of South Konoha. "Where are we going? All the good venues are in South Konoha, right? So why are we headed into North Konoha?"

"We practice at Naruto's house," Kakashi said, his gaze barely wavering from the little orange book in his hand. “And it’s Uncle Kakashi to you, kid.”

 I rolled my eyes, watching Kakashi while pretending to play on my phone. It had been a week since I had agreed to join the band, almost three weeks since I had moved into my Uncle’s apartment, and I was worried Kakashi was getting tired of having me around.

I sighed and settled back in my seat, it was a long trip from the south of Konoha to the north. The city was huge and the traffic always added an extra hour onto any journey.  I was thankful Kakashi had hired a chauffeur, town cars were much more spacious than his convertible. Stretching my legs out I leaned back and closed my eyes. By the time we had arrived, I was fast asleep. Ever since I could remember, long car rides had always made me sleepy.  

Upon our arrival, I was rudely awakened by an overly enthusiastic Naruto banging on the window where I was resting my head. I jumped, hitting my head off of the glass. Swearing, I pressed my hand to my head and opened the door forcefully into his ribs.

“Ow!”

“Sorry, Sakura,” Naruto said rubbing his now bruised side. I shook my head at him but accepted his hand as he helped me out of the car.

Naruto’s house was smaller than I had expected. Though it sat down a mile long drive had had two sets of gates, the house itself was modest. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it wasn’t well furnished or clean. I wrinkled my nose as Naruto lead me inside to meet the others. Amongst the sparse furniture were piles of dirty dishes, pizza boxes and beer bottles.

“Guys, Sakura and Kakashi are here,” Naruto yelled as he entered the practice room.  

"Sasuke, Neji," I greeted politely as I entered the practice room. Neji immediately a came over to talk to me while Sasuke only nodded in acknowledgement. I sighed, I guess that this would be the best I ever got.

“Hey, Hina, come meet Sakura!” Naruto shouted. I winced, Naruto’s inside voice apparently was none existent while at home.

In response to his call, a red-faced girl hurried into the room. I was shocked by her sudden appearance, I hadn’t been expecting to see another girl.

“H-hi,” I stammered despite myself. “I’m Sakura.”

“Hinata,” the girl smiled sweetly and held out her hand for me to shake. I took it, grateful that she was being so nice, even though my surprise at seeing her was clear.

Hinata bore such a resemblance to Neji that it had thrown me for a moment.

“You’re Neji’s…”

“Cousin,” she nodded, “I come to practice sometimes. It’s really nice to meet you.”

Shikamaru finally arrived moments later, interrupting my conversation with Hinata as practice started. She gave me a gentle smile and hurried over to the couch in the corner of the room. I loitered awkwardly on the edge of the group unsure what to do while everyone else was setting up. Chewing on my lower lip I glanced over at Kakashi for some direction

"Hey, Sakura why aren't you warming up?" Naruto yelled over his own drumming.

“Uh…I sort of don’t have a guitar…I was hoping that you would have one I could borrow.” I yelled back trying to make myself heard over the loud noise.

Any noise from setting up was halted as they all turned to face me. I stared back at them, unnerved by their silence.

“You don’t have a guitar?” Neji, repeated.

“Yeah, I…mine’s at home. Not Kakashi’s…home home…my parent’s house. I can’t go back and get it and I can’t afford to buy a new one so,” I rambled. “Do you have one I can borrow, just for today?”

There was a lengthy pause.

“Hn, come on,” Sasuke sighed, gesturing for me to follow him as he walked out of the room. Not wanting to annoy him further, I followed behind quickly.

Despite it not being Sasuke’s house, he walked around like he owned the place. He led me upstairs without a word and I was too nervous to ask him where we were going. It was only when he stopped outside of a closet door and I gave him a puzzled look that he spoke.

“Hn, go on. You can go in,” he said, crossing his arms and waiting for me to open the door.

Confused, I turned the handle and pushed the closet door open. Only it wasn’t a closet at all. Connected to the guest bedroom was a whole room filled with different musical instruments. I stood in the doorway and gawped.

“This is…this is amazing!”

It was a veritable Aladdin’s cave of instruments, I could have searched in there for hours but I knew I didn’t have that long. I felt Sasuke’s intense stare on my back as I tried to contain my glee. Straight away, I began hunting for a guitar. There must have been at least ten in that room, but the first guitar I stumbled onto became the only guitar I would end up using for the next ten years (not that I knew it then).

“Alright, I got one, let's go!” I beamed, giddy from the knowledge of such a place.

I practically skipped back down the stairs after Sasuke, guitar in hand.

“Naruto, that room is amazing!” I sighed dreamily, plugging in the guitar. “Seriously, can I have a better look sometime?”

“Ha, sure! You can come over whenever you like to look through it,” Naruto grinned, rubbing the back of his head. “They’re all stuff my Dad collected before he died. I just keep them up there, I don’t use them or anything so…It’s nice that you like it.”

"Maybe we should get this over with then?" Neji interrupted his bandmates babbling

"Yeah," Shikamaru yawned. "Sakura, you ready? You know most of our stuff, right? Just join in when you’re ready."

"Well yeah, okay," I said uncertainly, checking the tuning of the guitar I had borrowed. Though I hated to admit it, I knew most of their songs off by heart. I could blame my best friend for that.  

"Good, this is usually our ending song for concerts. It really gets the girls going wild," Sasuke said, with an unusually cheeky smirk. I rolled my eyes and drummed my fingers on the neck of my guitar.

(Song: Sexy Drug – Falling in Reverse. _Singing_. **(Instrumental pieces, usually Sakura's)** )

**(Guitar Intro:)**

Sasuke: _Sexy girl, I just fell in love_  
you should try it, it's a hell of a drug.  
Like O-M-G, you make me come, come, complete.

Sasuke started singing, his voice blasting out from the mic. He moved suggestively with the microphone stand and I had to avert my eyes. I could feel what was left of my innocence being washed away from exposure to this song.

 _I'm looking for reasons,_  
I'm begging and pleading,  
I'm dreaming of calling you mine.  
You keep me st-st-st-stuttering, stumbling,  
fumbling over my lines.  
Without you girl,  
I'm not alright,  
I'm not okay...  
(yeah!)  
  
No, don't give up on me.  
Wait, it's not what it seems.  
Now, we can't stop this tragedy,  
And it's back to the start.  
(yeah, yeah)  
And we're falling apart.  
(yeah, yeah)

I played along with Neji, not really getting into the song quite as much as I could have liked. I was feeling a little nervous at playing with them for the first time. I was impressed by how good they were. My fingers fumbled over the strings, and I almost made several mistakes only to save it at the last second.   __  
  
Sexy girl, come and lay with me  
I'm frustrated, and it's sexually.  
Like O-M-G, you make me come, come, complete.  
  


Sasuke grinned sadistically at me, clearly seeing my anxious face. I told myself he couldn’t tell that I had almost slipped up, but his knowing smirk made my heart race. My hands were sweaty as I tried my hardest to focus on what I was doing and not on the suggestive lyrics or Sasuke’s gyrating.  

 __  
I'm just being honest,  
We're creeping and crawling,  
I'm kissing the top of your head.  
We're rocking and rolling,  
We're touching and moaning,  
And making a mess of your bed.  
Can someone help, she shot me dead.  
I can't be saved...  
(yeah!)  
  
No, don't give up on me.  
Wait, it's not what it seems.  
Now, we can't stop this tragedy...  
  
So God, if you are real, I need your help,  
Because this girl has stolen my heart with her broken halo.  
And I can't deny, she's so damn fine.  
Give me some advice.  
  


I ran my fingers over the frets, glad that this was a mercifully short solo so there wasn’t much to mess up. But under Sasuke’s intense gaze I found myself beginning to panic, I knew that this wasn’t a good idea. I was so relieved to have made it through the solo in one piece, that I looked up excitedly and locked eyes with Sasuke as he sang the next few lines. I felt my cheeks turn pink.

 _Sexy girl, I just fell in love_  
you should try it, it's a hell of a drug.  
Like O-M-G, you make me come, come, complete.  
  
No, don't give up on me.  
Wait, it's not what it seems.  
Now, we can't stop this tragedy...  
  
No, don't give up on me.  
Wait, it's not what it seems.  
Now, we can't stop this tragedy,  
And it's back to the start.  
(yeah, yeah)  
And we're falling apart.  
(yeah, yeah)  
And it's back to the start.  
(yeah, yeah)  
And we're falling apart.  
(yeah, yeah)  
Shot straight through the heart.

I unwrapped my hands from my guitar, actually enjoying the final notes of the song. Maybe these guys weren't so bad after all. Now that the song was over, I realised that I had rather enjoyed myself. It sure beat playing guitar alone in my bedroom.

"Well done Sakura!" Naruto yelled throwing his drumsticks into the air and catching them skilfully in his pocket.

I bowed, giggling at his childish antics. The others seemed impressed too; I hadn't slipped up once, as close as it might have been.

"Thanks!" I smiled ruefully. I tugged at my hair self-consciously. "You're not too shabby yourself!"

"Nah, you're a real pro, Sakura," Neji said, a slight quirk at the corners of his mouth told me that he was pleased. "It's an honour to have you in the band."

I blushed and looked down as I mumbled hasty thanks. Shikamaru also complimented me and I even got the silent nod of approval from Sasuke. I actually felt embarrassed to be complimented. Even Kakashi had closed his book.

“What did you think, Hina? She’s good, eh?” Naruto asked. His direct question provoked Hinata to turn a deep, violent shade of red. I raised my eyebrow, curious about that reaction. Could there be a romance that I didn’t know about?

Hinata stuttered and stumbled over her words, but the sentiment was encouraging. I turned to my uncle, who was watching me critically.

“Eh, you could do better,” he shrugged.

“What?” I sighed, defeated. He had been so harsh with me lately. I was growing more and more certain that he wanted me out of his house.

“Technically your playing was fine…a little sloppy you nearly slipped up a few time,” he explained. I frowned, so someone had noticed. “But that’s not the problem here. You’re…so flat.”

I paused, unsure what he was getting at. Alarmed, I looked down at my chest, surely, he couldn’t be talking about-

“Woah, a bit creepy to be talking about your niece’s chest you pervert,” Shikamaru had also jumped to the same conclusion. “Sakura don’t listen to him you don’t need big-”

“Not that you idiot!” Kakashi yelled. “She needs more energy! Movement! Charisma!”

“Ohhhhhhh,” I nodded. “I can do that. I guess I was just a little nervous.”

“Perfectly natural,” my uncle encouraged. “Try it again from the top!”

 

* * *

 

After what seemed like hours of practising later, I collapsed onto the sofa beside my bandmates, beer in hand. My fingers throbbed, it was the first time I had played so intensely for such a long time, but I was happy. Over the course of the day, I had made so much progress. My stage presence was no longer non-existent and I had grown relaxed enough to take my eyes off of the guitar while playing.

“Glad to have you on board, Sakura,” Neji clinked his beer against mine.

“Yeah you’re way better than Karin,” Naruto grinned, giving me the thumbs up. I took it as a compliment, though I did feel bad for their former bandmate. “Just don’t try and sleep with Teme.”

I snorted, unable to contain my laughter. The very idea of me hitting on Sasuke seemed so ridiculous.

“Ahahaha, as if!” I laughed.

“Hn, whatever. You’d be so lucky,” Sasuke rolled his eyes.

We stayed at Naruto’s for a while after practice had ended. We ordered a pizza and Hinata and I watched while the boys played video games. Uncle Kakashi lounged in a chair and read his book, ignoring us until it was time to leave.

“Alright, kid, time to go,” Kakashi yawned, closing his book and tucking it into the pocket of his jacket.

I pushed myself off of the sofa, waving goodbye to Hinata as I made my way across the room to the door. I shouted my goodbyes to the boys who were too engrossed in their game to care. They mumbled back half waving as they did so. With a faint smile, I walked out of the house. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all.

“Hey, you’re smiling,” Kakashi noted as I climbed into the back of the town car.

“Yeah so?” I said, suddenly feeling defensive. “I smile all the time.”

“No, yeah, but that was a happy smile, not the usual sarcastic smug face you pull,” Kakashi retorted. “I’m just happy, you’re happy.”

“Ugh, whatever,” I rolled my eyes. I turned to stare out of the window not wanting Kakashi to see the smile I couldn’t keep off of my face. Yeah, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad.

* * *

**Sweetopia: Just a quick update for this story!**

**Hope you enjoyed it, lemme know what you think :)**

**Not making any promises but I should be back really soon with more chapters for this story and a couple of my others! I've also got a tonne of other fics which I could put on here and I'm thinking of taking one shot requests? I really want to get back into writing more.**

**Thanks for reading!**


	5. Chapter 5

I pulled the towel around me and stepped out of the shower, humming a piece I had been putting together in my head. Since joining Just Deal it seemed that could do nothing else, music had been the only thing on my mind. It had been proving a good distraction.

Smudging the steam off of the mirror, I wiped away the smudged mascara from my cheeks. It was nine on a Saturday night and I was already getting ready for bed. Kakashi had left an hour ago for a date and I had nothing else better to do. That was the only downside of living with my uncle was that I was alone a lot of the time. I sighed, reaching for my robe and pulling it around me, letting the towel drop to the floor at my feet. I'd pick it up later - I told myself as I opened the bathroom door and stepped out into the apartment. 

"Hey, Sakura!" 

"Fuck!" I yelped, stumbling backwards into the bathroom. I slipped on the wet floor and fell onto my towel. "Ough! Naruto, what the fuck!" 

"Oh shit, are you okay?"

Naruto stood up from the couch, trying to contain his laughter. I glared up at him from the floor. He lifted a hand to cover his mouth, extending the other towards me.

"What are you doing here?" I grumbled as he pulled me back onto my feet.

I wrapped my robe around me and crossed my arms, unamused at the intrusion. This wasn't the first time that this had happened, Kakashi had a habit of leaving the door unlocked when I was home and the boys wandered freely in and out as if they owned the place. 

"I came to see if you wanted to go out tonight?" Naruto chuckled, amused at my angry expression. "I'm meeting the guys for drinks and I didn't think it would be cool if we didn't invite you." 

"Oh, uh," I sighed, baffled. They had never invited me out before. "I'm not really dressed...I was just about to go to bed." 

"Oh, c'mon Sakura! I really want you to come, we all really want you to come." 

I rolled my eyes; I knew that wasn't true. There was one member of my new band who just barely tolerated me. Sasuke and I had had more than our share of disagreements since we met. Every time we were in the same room as each other for more than an hour we somehow ended up in a screaming match. I was hesitant to put myself in that sort of situation again. I was tired, and I had seen them all four times that week. 

"I don't think so, Naruto," I shook my head. 

"Please! You're part of the band too!" 

Naruto continued to cajole me until I, begrudgingly, gave in. 

* * *

 

“I really don’t think this is such a good idea,” I muttered as I followed Naruto out of the apartment. I paused to lock the door behind us. I wasn’t quite as lax as Kakashi when it came to home security.

Naruto ignored my protestations as we walked down to the lobby. I fidgeted uncomfortably in the outfit I had chosen. Naruto hadn’t given me long to get ready, I had just barely had the time to put on make-up and my outfit wasn’t nearly as well put together as I would have liked.

We walked into the lobby side by side. I glanced nervously at the receptionist as we passed. It turned out that she really wasn’t a fan of me. It seemed that she had a thing for my uncle and since I had moved in, I had very much interrupted her progress. She had been calling up to complain about my ‘behaviour in the communal areas’ frequently from the first night I spent here.

“Oh, hang on a minute,” Naruto patted my back.

I crossed my arms, watching as he happily bounded up to the reception desk. He talked for a few minutes, exchanging flirtatious laughter, before returning.

“I got her to call us a taxi,” he explained when he returned, “come sit.”

We settled our self on one of the luxurious couches in the lobby common room to wait until the taxi arrived. An uncomfortable silence settled over us. All that could be heard was the tapping of the receptionist at her computer. I glanced away from him, letting my gaze settle on the generic artwork hung up on the wall.

Despite their near constant presence in my life, I’d never spent much time with them outside of the practice room. Certainly not one on one. I glanced at Naruto out of the corner of my eye. He was grinning at his phone. Not wanting to pry, I quickly glanced away again.

The sound of a camera clicking made me turn back quickly.

“Smile, Sakura!”

I put my hand up to shield my face as Naruto took another selfie.

“Don’t be so grumpy, Sakura,” Naruto pouted, hooking his arm around my shoulder and pulling me into shot. “I’m sending proof to the guys that I got you to come out. They don’t believe me!”

“Well,” I huffed, wriggling myself free. “I’m sure they’ll believe you when we get there. I don’t like having photo’s taken!”

“Ha! You’re gonna have to get used to it now you’re in a band.”

I was about to protest further, but the honking of a car horn outside alerted us to the arrival of our taxi. I hurried to get out of the building, conscious of the receptionist’s steely gaze.

I climbed into the back seat of the taxi, letting Naruto take the front seat to entertain the driver. My last chance to get out of the impromptu night out was quickly slipping through my fingers. I sighed heavily, buckling my seatbelt. I was in it for the long haul now. Kakashi had been bugging me for weeks about getting out of the apartment. Pulling out my phone, I sent my uncle a text, letting him know that I would be out tonight.

Naruto chatted with the taxi driver as we drown through the city to the bar where we were meeting up with the others. My phone buzzed. I frowned, surprised that Kakashi had replied so quickly.

_Stay safe kid. K._

I couldn’t say that I wasn’t surprised by Kakashi’s brief text. It seemed a lot more on brand than his near immediate reply. Rolling my eyes, I exited my messages, faltering a little as I saw Ino’s name in my contacts. Not wanting to address those feelings, I tucked my phone into the pocket of my jeans. It had been months since we had last spoken.

“Isn’t that right, Sakura?” Naruto called back, startling me.

“Hm? What?”

“Oh, it doesn’t matter, we’re here,” he shrugged, pointing out the window at a little neon sign on the side of a building.

I frowned.

“Are you sure this is it?” I unbuckled my seat belt as Naruto handed the fare over to the driver.

“Yeah, c’ mon!”

I got out of the car and followed him a little way down the street towards the neon sign and down the alleyway which it pointed to.

“Naruto!” I scolded, “we could have walked here!”

It was true. The bar was barely a five-minute car ride from Kakashi’s apartment. A distance which we could have easily walked. Naruto ignored me, pulling my arm and dragging me down the steps to the bar with a grin. I sighed, allowing myself to be pulled along.

 

* * *

 

The bar which Naruto had brought me to was far less exclusive than I thought it would be. There were no security men on the doors and everyone inside looked like regular people, not celebrities. I gazed around the shabby interior in amazement.

Sasuke, Neji and Shikamaru were waiting for us in a booth at the back of the room. I let Naruto walk me over to them, still dragging me by the arm as I gawped. I had no idea that they would hang out in a place like this. It was actually pretty cool.

“Hey guys,” I waved, as we approached.

“You want a drink?” Neji asked, shuffling out of the booth and offering me his seat.

“Oh, uh, just a beer, please,” I smiled nervously, perching myself in the booth next to Shikamaru, who was dozing lightly in the corner.

Across from me, Naruto slid into the booth beside Sasuke. Whatever conversation that was being had before I arrived had come to a grinding halt. I shuffled awkwardly in my seat searching for something to say.

“So, uh, this place is…” I fumbled for the right adjective, “it’s different…than I was expecting.”

Neji returned with my drink, shoving Naruto over so he could sit down.

“What were you saying Sakura, go on,” he prompted, pushing my beer over the table towards me.

I accepted and reiterated my earlier statement.

“What were you expecting?” Naruto laughed loudly, clashing his beer against mine.

“I don’t know,” I shrugged, still unsure if I had made the right decision joining them on a night out. “I just thought you’d be drinking somewhere more exclusive? It’s this place a bit…”

“Hn, what? So, we can’t go out for a drink like regular people? You think we’re too good for this place?” Sasuke snapped suddenly.

“Oh, no, I uh,” I backtracked, wondering how I had already gotten off to a bad start.

“What Sasuke means is that we’ve been drinking here since before we were famous. It’s sort of a home from home,” Neji interrupted, trying to make peace.

It was common for Sasuke and me to be slightly less than friendly with each other, but he had never been this standoffish with me before. I resigned myself to keeping quiet, not wanting to ruin the mood more than I had already.

“I was just thinking, isn’t there a bit of a security risk?”

“Nah,” Shikamaru yawned. “The bartenders are really cool, anyone acts up around us, they get kicked out.”

I nodded and the boys resumed their conversation as if I wasn’t there. I hunched myself against the booth and sipped my beer, listening as they joked around with each other. I nodded along to the conversation, pretending that I was having a good time.

My quietness went largely unnoticed. For almost an hour, I managed to get away with no more than a nod in contribution to the conversation. Then the questions came my way.

 “So, Sakura,” Naruto began, he was on his third beer and though I didn’t initially take him for a lightweight, his flushed cheeks betrayed him. “How're things?”

“Things?” I mused.

“Yeah! Things, life, have you heard from your parents?”

“Oh,” I was shocked by the sudden line of questioning.

I hadn’t made it particularly obvious that that specific line of questioning was off limits, but I was sure that he knew better than to ask about it. I hoped that my prolonged silence would ward him off the conversation, but the longer I remained quiet the harder they stared – waiting for me to answer.

“Uh, no,” I sighed. “No, I didn’t take their calls, and they stopped calling.”

The table fell silent.

“But it’s fine! I’m fine. They kicked me out and they made it pretty clear I wasn’t welcome home so…good riddance, I guess,” I said with fake cheer.

In truth, I had begun feeling a little homesick. Only my pride was keeping me from calling my parents and asking to come home. I knew that if I went back, nothing would have changed. It was easier for everyone this way.

Sasuke scoffed, breaking the nervous silence, and rolled his eyes. Even given his track record of being a sarcastic bastard, I was still surprised.

“Uh, what’s that supposed to mean?” I snapped, not appreciating his response.

“Hn, nothing,” Sasuke feigned innocence, but I was determined not to let it go.

“No, please, go on.”

I crossed my arms, glaring across the table at him. There was a moment of tense silence before Sasuke answered, “you’re such a typical spoiled brat.”

“Spoiled?!” I raised my voice. “You don’t know-“

“Guys! Guys, let’s not fight!” Naruto yelled, trying to settle us down.

“You’re right,” I backed down. “I’m gonna go get another drink.”

I pushed myself out of the booth, irritated that I had let him get to me. Storming over the bar, I waited patiently behind a gaggle of what looked to be regulars. While I waited for the crowd to clear, I looked around the bar. It was a little dive-y, every inch of the chipped paint on the walls had been graffitied. I could see the appeal of this place to a newly formed Just Deal. I could picture them all, young and full of ambition gathered in their booth. I snuck a glance over at the boys, embarrassed that I had gotten so riled up. Sasuke tended to have that effect on me. I just didn’t know what his problem was.

“Hey, do I know you?” A voice from behind me startled me out of my pondering.

I turned around to come face to face with a stranger.

“Oh, uh, no,” I shook my head. “I don’t think so.”

“You’re right, I would remember someone as pretty as you.”

“Oh wow, that’s…that’s bad,” I chuckled, impressed that he would go for such a cheesy line flat out.

“Can I get you a drink?”

“I…” I looked over my shoulder at the band in the booth. They seemed to have settled down, I was beginning to wonder if they were better off without me. “Sure, why not.”

The guy beckoned for me to follow him through the crowd to the bar. I apologised as he displaced people in his path. Following his lead, I pushed myself up onto a bar stool and waited for him to order me a drink.

 

* * *

 

“So, you here on your own?” the guy asked, as the barman placed another beer in front of me.

We had been talking for the better part of half an hour and I was beginning to get a little bored. If the boys had noticed that I had been gone a while they didn’t seem to show it. I felt my gaze shift away from the guy in front of me and back to the booth. They were all chatting happily.

“Are you here on your own?” the guy repeated, his hand resting gently on my knee.

His touch drew my attention back to him. I coughed awkwardly, not liking his casual touch. I crossed my legs, dislodging his hand from my knee.

“I…No, and I should be getting back to my friends,” I excused myself. “Thanks for the beer, it was nice to meet you.”

I slid off of the bar stool, not intending on going back to the band. I wanted to go home. I was tired and ready for bed. The boys still didn’t notice I was missing, even as I walked past them to get out of the bar. I sighed, reaching into my jeans pocket for my pack of cigarettes and a lighter. Fishing them out, I brought one to my lips and stepped out of the bar into the alley. One smoke, then I would let them know that I was going home – I told myself. I took a long drag. It had been a while since I had smoked, Kakashi was stricter than I thought he would be, and I was starting to go off of the taste of it. The ritual was still soothing though, and I felt considerably more relaxed than I had before.

Dropping the cigarette to the floor, I ground it into the pavement with my heel.

“Hey, there,” a voice called out.

I turned, expecting it to be Naruto or Neji or even Shikamaru, finally noticing that I had left. But it wasn’t. It was the guy who I had been talking to at the bar.

“Hey,” I gave him a tight-lipped smile.

“I thought you were meeting up with your friends,” he questioned, gesturing to the empty alley. “So, where are they?”

“Ah, they’re back inside. I was just having a smoke,” I shrugged.

Suddenly, I felt worried. I was alone in a dark alley with a stranger and he was between me and the door. My heart was pounding and I was sure that it was more than the nicotine.

“Well, I’d best be getting back inside,” I laughed nervously.

“You sure? We could go back to my place,” the guy suggested, confirming my suspicions.

“No, thanks, but no,” I declined, stepping back against a wall. “I really, really should be getting back to my friends.”

For a moment, I thought that would be it. He stepped aside to let me pass and my fear subsided. I ducked under his arm to get to the door. Then the moment ended. A hand caught my shoulder holding me still.

I frowned, my face growing hot.

“Look, I don’t know what you were expecting after I bought you those drinks, but you’re coming home with me,” the guy snapped.

I opened my mouth to yell, but before I could the door swung open.

“Sakura,” Sasuke said in surprise.

It was the first time I had ever been relieved to see his face.

“Sasuke I-“

“What’s going on here?” he asked shoving the guy who had hold of me, hard.

“Nothing,” the guy shrugged. “I was just leaving.”

“Hn, sure,” Sasuke glared his best withering glare and the guy booked it within seconds.

I let out a sigh of relief as I watched him running down the street.

“Inside now,” Sasuke turned to me.

“No,” I refused. “I, I want to go home. I didn’t even want to be here tonight.”

“Stop acting like a-”

“A spoiled brat?”

Sasuke sighed, closing the door behind him, “I’m sorry.”

“What?”

“Hn, you know what I said.”

“I’m going home,” I shook my head. It had been a disaster of a night and I was ready for it to be over. “Tell the guys I’ll see them for practice on Monday.”

I turned away from the bar and began walking up the alley and onto the street in the direction of home. I had made it no more than a few metres before Sasuke had caught up to me. He strode alongside me, silent and angry looking.

“What are you doing?”

“Hn, I’m walking you home,” he replied stiffly as if he couldn’t believe what he was doing himself.

I was about to protest. I was about to tell him I could find my own way home. Then I remembered the trouble I had gotten into tonight, how easy it would have been for something to go wrong, and I backed down.

We walked in silence all the way home - Sasuke texting on his phone, while I focused on the pavement in front of me. I refused to give Sasuke the satisfaction of conversation. He had pissed me off more than usual tonight. Just because he had interrupted a situation that wasn’t quite going my way, didn’t mean I felt any better towards him.

Similarly, Sasuke did his best to ignore me.

It was only as we approached the apartment building that Sasuke put his phone away and turned to speak to me.

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I shrugged, stepping up to the intercom and buzzing for the receptionist to let me in. Kakashi still hadn’t gotten around to getting me a fob yet.

“Hn, are you sure?” he questioned. “You looked pretty shook up outside-”

“I said I was fine, Sasuke,” I snapped, leaning on the buzzer again.

“Fuck sake, I was just trying to be nice,” he rolled his eyes.

I sighed, suddenly feeling guilty. He had helped me and walked me home. Maybe I was being a little too harsh.

“You’re right. I’m sorry. I’m just tired and I want to go to bed.”

“Good night, Sakura,” Sasuke shook his head at me and turned away, just as the receptionist pressed the buzzer to let me into the building.

“Night, Sasuke,” I muttered, opening the door.

* * *

**Sweetopia: Okay gang. So, I know it's been ages since I last uploaded anything, but I've been super busy with uni as it's my final year but I'm officially all done! So yay! More free time!!  More time to upload!**

**Hope you enjoyed!**

**I will be uploading for this and my other stories soon so don't be a stranger!**

**Thanks for reading!**

**Author's Note:**

> Sweetopia: Thanks for reading guys! I'll be updating this fic and my others more frequently from now one with a schedule to post a new chapter every week! Hope you enjoyed! Drop me a comment to let me know what you think!


End file.
